Most of my customers have acrylic & are now wanting the gel topcoat..I have switched gels 3 times looking for the shine that i see others have...but the last 3x i used it there was no shine after i wiped with the alcohol & on a few other customers..they have had cracking or peeling of nail polish..what am i doing wrong...what kind of alcohol..which type of lamp should i be using? Is there a difference with the brush in a bottle gel topcoat or the gel in a jar..how do i bring the shine back if there is no shine..
Im using this on top of acrylic to keep polish nice & shiny for weeks & drill off when its time to take off
i just used ibd ultra seal & it turned out very dull..any help would b appreciated

Maybe u are using a tackless sealer ,not sure if ultra seal is one of those, but a tackless sealer will peel or crack on an acylic surface that is too smooth or has a shine ,and it is tackless ,so it needs no wiping after coming out of the light...

ok i just looked up ibd ultra sealer & clear gel..there is a difference..i believe im reading that the ultra sealer should be used on the acrylic b4 polish & i should have used the clear gel for the shiny top coat on top of polish..
im still researching but any help with answers will be appreciated..
I cant wait for Nail show season to begin..i will be 1st on-line for my tix.. soo many questions & shopping for new products

Lexibunny i have used both..i prefer the one u do not use the alcohol with but that is the one i have had the most cracking with..i put it on nice & thin fully covering the polish & I make sure I cap the edges..and cure it..maybe too long im not sure
But I get better results with the sealer that i have to use alcohol..it seems to seal it better.

Sometimes it takes longer to fully cure a gel to a high shine if it's one that requires wiping. Instead of curing 2 min. like most do, go 3.

Tackless sealer is the fastest and easiest but you don't want the surface of the nail too smooth, about a 180 grit file or so, filed smooth, NO OIL.

When you say cracking, are you talking about the sealer is cracking across the nail?

You also said 'Nail Polish', are you using gel over reg. nail polish? If you are, then the problem is that the polish isn't fully dry and the gel can't adhere to the nail. It can be done but the polish has to be completely dry and depending on the weather, that can take awhile.

Tuff Enuff Nails Diamond Shine is a super high gloss finish gel with no tacky layer to wipe off. This product has been used by competitors for years. You are able to apply it very thin and it cures in just 90 seconds.
It works great with gel, acrylic and wonderful for gel polish.

I've tried ultra seal and had the same problem. i use Glaze N Go now and love it. I'm not understanding the polish part of this question. are you trying to put a gel top coat over normal nail polish? cause my understanding was that its to go directly on to the acrylic so that might be the problem.

As an experiment I once tried gel sealer as a topcoat over polish, and it cracked and peeled horribly...lesson learned, experiment failed. I have had some success with gel polish topcoat over regular polish, but hit or miss....

Yes I am polishing with reg polish & letting this completely dry & then applying gel topcoat & curing it for 2-3min & wipe off with alcohol..its supposed to maintain a shine for 3 weeks easy but Im noticing that it is not..
I have used Glaze n Go & I do love that very easy to use with shiny results..i just get a few pointy spikes on a few nails so I have been searching for another brand but it was the easiest to work with so maybe i will stay with Glaze n Go..

(01-09-2013, 10:05 AM)da nail lady Wrote: [ -> ]Yes I am polishing with reg polish & letting this completely dry & then applying gel topcoat & curing it for 2-3min & wipe off with alcohol..its supposed to maintain a shine for 3 weeks easy but Im noticing that it is not..
I have used Glaze n Go & I do love that very easy to use with shiny results..i just get a few pointy spikes on a few nails so I have been searching for another brand but it was the easiest to work with so maybe i will stay with Glaze n Go..

That's what the problem is with the peeling you're having, the polish ISN'T completely dry. I've heard of techs doing this after waiting 5-10 min. and having success with it but imo, the weather outside is going to play a roll in this also. On high humidity days, polish takes longer to dry, as long as several hrs. I would certainly stick with a top coat that's formulated to be used over reg. polish, not a gel sealer.

I use two coats of Tammy Taylor gel + over a regular polish. The cure time for the gel under my CND light is two minutes per coat. I then rub not so vigerously with 91% alcohol. If it was a gel polish I would rub harder. It wears like a gel polish with the TT gel top coat. You should wait a few minutes after applying the regular polish before applying the two coats of the gel.

OK ladies...i finally found it..it is the IBD clear Gel...I allow the regular nail polish to dry for 15-20 min...then i use a gel brush & brush the gel on making sure to cap the edges...then i cure them for 3 min...sometimes 5min if im working on another customer...i have been using it for the last 2 weeks & only had 1 person come back with a chip in 2 nails...& the shine stays wonderfully.. we charge extra for that...$5

Chrissy..It only works on acrylic or gel nails/tips...not natural nails..
I just experimented with black polish, stained glass design & then the ibd uv clear gel on top of my natural nails & my whole design peeled off within days...Now Im gonna use black gel polish & create my design & top with ibd gel
but on my customers with acrylic nails it works beautifully..let me know how it works for u..

@ da nail lady - thanks for the heads up! I was going to try it on my natural nails over a China Glaze glitter polish I have (champagne kisses) as it has a texture to it when it dries. I figured I could use the ibd clear gel over it to prevent chipping and give it a more "glass" like finish. Oh well...I'll try it over a gel or acrylic and let you know know how I like it. ;-)

There are a few gel top coats that are made to work on natural nails over polish. Sorry off the top of my head I cant recall the brands. Polish has solvents in it that need to "wick off" before being completely dry.. This can take several hours which is why traditional or even gel polish top coats don't work well over traditional polish and natural nails. If you polished OVER a ge top coat you still have to ut some kind of a top coat on for shine, so thats defeating the purpose

If you can remember the brand names for gel top coats that can go over regular nail polish that would be sooooo helpful. I see that Nailite has one caled thin gel coat uv. I just don't want to keep buying and buying. the shipping is more than the product.
thanks

Hello nail lady! I am Stas and I have the same problem and this is crazy because before I purchased the LED machine believe it or not I use to dry my gel by the actual sun and it worked everytime with no crack . I had one client wear her nails til they all popped off and gel was still intact. So I am definitely thinking that there is a major difference with the actually machine. Not sure but II definitely have to get to the bottom of this.
Stas Branded

(01-04-2013, 12:42 AM)da nail lady Wrote: [ -> ]Most of my customers have acrylic & are now wanting the gel topcoat..I have switched gels 3 times looking for the shine that i see others have...but the last 3x i used it there was no shine after i wiped with the alcohol & on a few other customers..they have had cracking or peeling of nail polish..what am i doing wrong...what kind of alcohol..which type of lamp should i be using? Is there a difference with the brush in a bottle gel topcoat or the gel in a jar..how do i bring the shine back if there is no shine..
Im using this on top of acrylic to keep polish nice & shiny for weeks & drill off when its time to take off
i just used ibd ultra seal & it turned out very dull..any help would b appreciated

As far as a gel topcoat over polish goes.......I always used Shellac topcoat over any polish. I used the CND lights which have fans in them. I wld dry/cure every layer in the lamp, and then seal it all with the topcoat. Never had any issues. If the client wanted more protection-- I wld add a thin layer of LE Super Shiny right over the shellac topcoat, and that would make it inpentratable .... Ha!!!